Dear Readers, we are providing important current affairs related with Business and economy news for upcoming exams.
2. Indian pharmaceutical companies have ranked low at 19th position with an overall score of 59 out of 100 among in the Biopharmaceutical Competitiveness & Investment (BCI) Survey.
3. India’s first Medipark (Medical Park) will be set up in Tamil Nadu at Chengalpet near Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It will boast of the first medical devices manufacturing park in the country.
4. Fadnavis inaugurates India’s first International Arbitration Centre in Mumbai.
5. CCEA approves acquisition of 11% stake in JSC Vankorneft by ONGC Videsh
6. RBI releases fourth Bi-monthly Monetary Policy Statement, 2016-17 .The policy repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) was reduced by 25 basis points from 6.5 per cent to 6.25 per cent with immediate effect.
7. Four public sector banks (PSBs) may struggle to make coupon payments on their additional tier 1 (AT1) bond as they have reported heavy losses due to a surge in bad loans. In this case coupon payment is an annual interest paid on the face value of a bond. It is expressed as a percentage. AT1 bond is issued under Basel III capital regulations.
8. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has notified entities that have been granted a payments bank (PB) licence will need to take specific approval for products they would be offering to customers.
9. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Internal Working Group (IWG) on Rationalisation of Branch Authorisation Policy has proposed easing bank branch norms. It was chaired by Lily Vadera.
10. India’s largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) has announced the opening up its foreign branch in Yangon, the capital city of Myanmar. With this, SBI became the first domestic bank of India to open a branch in Myanmar.
11. The Union Government has notified the constitution of the six members Monetary Policy Committee (MPC). In this regard, the Union Finance Minister has used powers designated under the section 45ZB of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Act, 1934 to constitute MPC.
12. India’s largest private sector bank ICICI Bank has successfully deployed ‘Software Robotics’ for power banking operations. With this, it becomes first bank in the country and among few globally to deploy ‘Software Robotics’. ICICI Bank has deployed Software Robotics to over 200 business processes across various functions.
13. The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has announced that Unified Payments Interface (UPI) application has become operational. The application will allow customers to make easier real-time payments via digital means using smartphones.
14. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has asked banks to provide loans up to Rs 3 lakh at 7 per cent interest rate to Women Self-Help Group (SHG). This loan scheme must be provided under the National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM)-Aajeevika scheme during 2015-16
15. Union Government has appointed Urjit Patel (52) as new Governor of Reserve Bank of India (RBI). He will be 24th Governor of RBI
16. The India Post Payments Bank Limited (IPPBL) has received the Certificate of Incorporation from the Registrar of Companies, Ministry of Corporate Affairs under the Companies Act 2013. IPPBL would be the first PSU under the Department of Posts (DoP). With the incorporation, the Board of the IPPBL is likely to be constituted soon.
17. The State Bank of India’s (SBI’s) board of directors has approved merger of its five associate banks and Bharatiya Mahila Bank (BMB) with itself. These five subsidiaries are State Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur, State Bank of Hyderabad, State Bank of Mysore, State Bank of Travancore and Bharatiya Mahila Bank.
18. The Union Cabinet has approved liberalization of foreign investment norms for the non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) to improve the ease of doing business.
19. Dinesh Kumar Khara was appointed Managing Director (MD) of State Bank of India (SBI), India’s largest lender. His appointment was confirmed by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He has been appointed for the period of three years.
20. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has constituted Dr. Tarun Ramadorai committee to study various facets of household finance in India.
21. Seven Indian companies have made it to the latest Fortune 500 list of the world’s biggest corporations in terms of revenue.Indian Oil Corporation (161st), Reliance Industries (215th), Tata Motors (226th), State Bank of India (232nd), Bharat Petroleum (358th), Hindustan Petroleum (367th) and Rajesh Exports (423rd).
22. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has set up an inter-regulatory Working Group to study the regulatory issues relating to Financial Technology (Fintech) and Digital Banking in India The inter-regulatory Working Group will be headed by RBI’s Executive Director Sudarshan Sen and consist of 12 members.
23. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has given approval ONGC Videsh Limited (OVL) proposal to buy 11% stake in JSC Vankorneft.
24. The Union Finance Ministry also constituted four-member Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) with Financial markets expert MS Sahoo as its Chairman.
25. Anil Ambani led Reliance Group and French aerospace giant Dassault Aviation have signed deal to set up a joint venture called Dassault Reliance Aerospace. The Dassault Reliance Aerospace will execute offsets for the recently concluded India-France deal for 36 Rafale fighter jets.
26. The National Mission on Bioeconomy has launched in Shillong, Meghalaya by the Institute of Bio-resources and Sustainable Development (IBSD). The mission is unique to south-east Asia and India has become one of the few countries to tap bio-resources.
27. India’s second largest software services major Infosys has launched “Skava Commerce” a new standard for modern, mobile-first and modular e-commerce platform for retailers.
28. India has been ranked 39th among the 138 countries in the 2016-17 Global Competitiveness Index (GCI). The index was released as part of the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Global Competitiveness Report for 2016-17.Switzerland (1st)
29. India has been ranked 112th out of 159 countries in the 2016 World Economic Freedom Index (WEFI). The index was release as part of the 2016 annual report of the Economic Freedom.Hong Kong (1st), Singapore (2nd)
30. State owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has granted prestigious membership of Asia-Pacific Aerospace Quality Group (APAQG) under category ‘Full Member with voting rights’.
31. The Gionee India has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Haryana government to set up its phone manufacturing hub in Faridabad.
32. Canada’s British Columbia province has become the first foreign government to issue of masala bonds, a rupee-denominated bond.
33. India has been placed at the 35th rank in the World Bank’s 2016 Logistics Performance Index (LPI) among 160 countries. The index was recently released by World Bank in its report titled ‘Connecting to Complete 2016’.
34. The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has imposed penalties on 10 cement companies and their umbrella association – Cement Manufacturers Association (CMA) for cartelisation. The CCI has levied penalties on 10 cement companies viz. ACC, ACL, Binani, Century, India Cements, JK Cements, Lafarge, Ramco, UltraTech and Jaiprakash Associates.
35. The Union Cabinet has given its approval for simplification and liberalisation of the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Policy, 2016 in various sectors announced in June, 2016. The radical amendments to FDI policy are meant to liberalise and simplify the FDI policy so as to provide ease of doing business in the country. Its main aim is to allow larger FDI inflows in the country that will contribute to growth of investment, incomes and employment.
36. The Union Cabinet has approved the scheme for granting of Permanent Residency Status (PRS) to foreign investors. However, this status will be subject to the relevant conditions in the FDI Policy notified by the Central Government from time to time.
37. Automobile manufacturer Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd (M&M) has introduced DiGiSENSE, a cloud based technology solution to track vehicle information in real time.
38. The world’s first self-driving taxi service was launched in Singapore. This launch is significant as it offer technology demonstration that could revolutionize the future transport industry.
39. State-run telecom giant Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has signed a strategic business Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Microsoft India.
40. India has ranked 66th in the 2016 Global Innovation Index (GII). In this edition, India has jumped up by 15 spots from 81st position in 2015 GII.
41. The Union Government has constituted a National Committee on Trade Facilitation (NCTF) to develop the pan-India road map for trade facilitation. It has been constituted in line with the World Trade Organisation (WTO’s) Trade Facilitation Agreement (FTA), which India also has ratified. The NCTF will inter – ministerial body on trade facilitation and will be headed by Pradeep Kumar Sinha, who is the Cabinet Secretary of India.
42. The Union Government has decided to set up a committee to look at easing the policy regime for e-commerce players, including the rules for foreign direct investment (FDI). The committee will be headed by Amitabh Kant, CEO of NITI (National Institution for Transforming India) Aayog.
43. The Parliament passed The Constitution (122nd Amendment) (GST) Bill, 2014 after it was unanimously passed by the Lok Sabha by approving all the amendments made by Rajya Sabha earlier. The bill now will go states (15 out of total 29 states) for approval as per Article 368 of Constitution as it constitutional amendment bill dealing with changes in the features of fiscal federalism.
44. Japan’s cabinet has approved an economic stimulus package worth 275 billion dollars in attempt kick-start the economy and boost growth of the world’s third-largest economy.
45. Technocrat Anant Maheshwari was appointed as the President of Microsoft India, a subsidiary of US based software giant Microsoft Inc.
46. The Union Cabinet has given its approval for raising foreign shareholding limit from current 5% to 15% in Indian Stock Exchanges. The decision brings the investment limit of foreign entities at par with that of domestic institutions.
